A gp3 volume reaches its included 3,000 IOPS during nightly batch runs. Which change adds IOPS with the least disruption and lowest cost?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
gp3 separates IOPS from capacity, so additional IOPS can be provisioned as an independent setting without resizing or recreating the volume. A volume can be modified online, and the new performance level applies after the modification completes. This is cheaper than jumping to io2 when the workload needs a moderate increase rather than extreme durability or throughput.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. st1 is optimized for sequential throughput and delivers far fewer IOPS, which makes it a poor fit for a random I/O batch workload.
- C. io2 Block Express is built for very high IOPS and carries a much higher price per provisioned IOPS than the gp3 increment.
- D. Striping multiple gp2 volumes adds management complexity and does not beat simply raising the gp3 setting.
Exam tip. gp3 lets you buy IOPS independently of capacity.